Introduction to Statistics

Statistics

A branch of applied mathematics that involves the collection and interpretation of data to draw conclusions about observations.

Descriptive Statistics

Used to summarize and visualize data, addressing measures of central tendency and variation.

Inferential Statistics

A set of procedures used to analyze samples to make inferences about a population.

Continuous Data

Data that can take on any value within a given range and can be expressed in fractions or decimals.

Categorical Data

Data that can be divided into groups or categories that do not have numerical value.

Independent Variable (IV)

A variable that is manipulated in an experiment to observe its effects on the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that is measured or observed in an experiment, which is affected by the independent variable.

Nominal Data

Categorical data that represents labels without implying any quantitative value.

Ordinal Data

Ranked categorical data where the categories have a meaningful order but not equal intervals.

Interval Data

Data with equal increments between values but without a true zero point, meaning zero does not indicate absence.

Ratio Data

Data measured in equal increments with a true zero point, where zero indicates absence of the variable.

Population

The entire group of individuals or instances that meet a set of criteria in a study.

Sample

A subset of the population used to gather insights about the larger population.

Null Hypothesis

A statement in a study that assumes no effect or relationship exists between variables.

Research Hypothesis

A statement predicting an effect or relationship between variables to be tested in a study.

Random Sampling

A sampling method where each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Parametric Statistics

Techniques used with interval or ratio data that assume normal distribution.

Non-Parametric Statistics

Techniques used with nominal and ordinal data or interval and ratio data that is not normally distributed.

Count Data

Data that represents counts, typically discrete, and can be both categorical and continuous.